Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. An organ of the body which performs a sufficiently important function that damage to the organ can cause death.
WordNet
n. a bodily organ that is essential for life [syn: vitals]
Usage examples of "vital organ".
With each violation the Darhel's body twitched until, practically exsanguinated, with nearly every vital organ including the brain punctured, the alien finally subsided.
Those of us who have long suspected that Bourbaki's head is his least vital organ are not surprised to learn that the general managed thereby to wound himself only slightly, and is already on the mend.
Though Analyst incised from the battery a vital organ, he could not guess its purpose.
Well, there are so many causes: some shock, some great sorrow, a weighing down by anxiety, over-work, care or trouble, or some affection of a vital organ of the physical system—.
The Darters chased after the fleeing Leviathan, eager to chew through its thick outer armor and puncture the vital organ-members deep within.
The first true sign of blood was two feet in front of the vital organ table.
After a hard day's skirmishing, said sleeves would be covered with unsightly blots and blemishes, and perhaps a vital organ or two.
Conway tested his theory by mounting a crude, physical attack on Lonvellin that its natural defenses could not cope with, a spike driven very slowly into the body where there was an underlying vital organ.
Two spears had found the same animal, but only one was imbedded in a vital organ.
But at that moment someone bumped the Russian, so that his bullet did not strike a vital organ.
The creature jerked spasmodically as he forced his hand in deep, searching for a vital organ.
He shot himself in the chest with a pistol and the bullet came out through his back without damaging any vital organ.
Then his hands plunged into the chest cavity, somehow finding room around Dodds and Jenkins, and were suddenly incredibly gentle as they located the heart itself and began working on it, the skilled, exact massage of a man who knew every function of the vital organ.
Then his hands plunged into the chest cavity, somehow finding room around Dodd's and Jenkins', and were suddenly incredibly gentle as they located the heart itself and began working on it, the skilled, exact massage of a man who knew every function of the vital organ.
What did this suggest about where he assumed his most vital organ was, after all?